


Setsuran Winter

by SonicoSenpai



Series: Various Lamento One-Shots [19]
Category: Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID-
Genre: Because I can't help it and that's what I want for Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Smut, Consensual Sex, M/M, Original Universe, Snow and Ice, Teasing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Two Years Later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:22:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21835897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonicoSenpai/pseuds/SonicoSenpai
Summary: In this fic, set in the original universe about two years after Rai's good ending, Konoe ends up talking Rai to head home to Setsura for winter. They've been working hard and this is a vacation.This is a consensual, fluffy fic for the holidays--not my usual fare. I hope you enjoy just the same.
Relationships: Konoe/Rai (Lamento)
Series: Various Lamento One-Shots [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1231130
Kudos: 16





	Setsuran Winter

While I haven’t exactly been happy about the freezing temperature since arriving in Rai’s home town of Setsura, when we wake the first morning of our vacation to ice-covered windows, I’m blown away by their beauty. It isn’t just ice—they are crystals of all shapes, delicate like lace, and they disappear when my breath touches the glass.

“Oh, my gods!” I gasp quietly. “You grew up in such a beautiful place!”

A surprisingly inelegant snort escapes from my silver cat still curled up in bed and watching me.

“Beauty you _completely_ failed to notice on our way here,” he teases. “Poor little kitten with short fur and no resistance to weather.”

He's right. I did complain most of the trip because of the cold and the wet snow. I click my mouth and turn toward him. His voice is soft and teasing, rather than mean.

“My boots just… well, they didn’t hold up like I expected them to.”

“So only your _feet_ were cold?”

Turning back to the window and peering at the silent, white world outside, I continue, “Well, um… I just don’t handle the cold as well as you. I don’t have that long fur to keep me warm.”

“Yes, you do.” The words are whispered directly in my ear, making me jump in surprise. He has somehow managed to sneak up right behind me and wrap his arms around my body—and I’m still only wearing his shirt from last night. He has no qualms about putting his hands on me and flustering me. “You only need to ask and I will lend you my tail any time.”

As he says this, that gorgeous white tail fluffs up around my upper thigh, stroking me gently. If he isn’t careful, he’s going to touch another part of me—and then I realize that is _exactly_ his intent.

“What are you doing, so early in the morning? I wanted to go out and play in the fresh snow.”

“Did you?” His question is followed by his tongue—hot and damp and rough—but brushed gently along the outside edge of my ear. It sends a mildly ticklish and utterly arousing shiver down my spine. “You didn’t get enough yesterday?”

When we arrived yesterday, it was still light outside. Rai had told me about this strange winter tradition he learned from Bardo. Around the second month of winter, you bring a tree into the house—a pine tree—and you decorate it with candles and ribbons. He chose one from outside, chopped it down, and dragged it into the house yesterday afternoon. It's standing in water now and we have to keep it watered to keep it alive.

I have to confess, though I’d never heard of such a ridiculous custom, the tree was absolutely beautiful once it was lit. It shimmered softly with the melting snow, and the red ribbons we tied to the branches were lovely. While I'm not a fan of fire, even I have to admit that the glow from the tree was gorgeous. Rai mentioned that in Bardo’s family, they actually have special ornaments to attach to the tree branches.

I fell asleep in front of it last night, curled up on the fur rug in the living room, and Rai moved me into bed, I assume after putting out the candles.

“See? It’s snowing still. Let’s go outside.” I’m eager to see more of the snow, this time in a place I won’t have to be out in it for an indefinite period of time while my feet freeze.

“You’ll get very cold again,” Rai warns me, pressing his body up against mine. He isn’t wearing a stitch of clothing, as I can tell when presses his legs up against mine. I feel my ears filling with heat and my lower body floods with anticipation as well.

It isn’t that he _never_ touches me or that he’s never naked around me. We’ve just had so much work lately that there hasn’t been much time after our long days to connect physically. I find his touch delightful if slightly unfamiliar. The longer we go between sexual encounters, the more easily I become flustered. And I swear, I think Rai sometimes does this on purpose because he _enjoys_ seeing me flustered and embarrassed.

“Come on, get dressed,” I say, squirming out of his arms and pulling on my underclothing and trousers. I am going to keep his shirt. It’s warm and it smells like him.

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Rai mumbles as he puts on his clothes. “I am happy to warm your up once we get back indoors.”

I keep my face pointed toward the floor at that comment. He doesn’t need to see my blush, I think—but as I’m thinking that, I feel a gentle touch at the tips of both ears. They must still be showing my emotions.

“We could do it outside,” Rai whispers.

My ears flatten—we _could_ , but we aren’t exactly outside the town of Setsura. Rai’s parents’ house has been kept in good condition, and it’s pretty central. I’m sure we wouldn’t go unnoticed if Rai stripped me bare out in the front yard. I have doubts that it being a semi-public place would discourage him. And I don't think if he actually decided to do such a thing that I’d be powerful enough to stop him. So I discourage him verbally instead.

“Shut up,” I mumble, pulling on my coat and my gloves.

I am the first to the door and head outside.

My boots crunch softly under the snow—leaving footprints in an otherwise untouched white world. Our tracks from yesterday (even where Rai dragged in the tree) are covered, and it looks desolate and isolated, as well as pristine. The flakes falling from the sky are thick and soft, and there’s very little wind. This is much drier snow than I ever saw in Karou. We’d get snow every now and then—a half-inch would stick to the ground—but it always melted into slush and mud. This snow is different—and I’m surprised at how little noise there is. The fresh parts that have been falling overnight are about a foot deep, even where Rai shoveled a path to the front door yesterday. Some areas have drifts twice that depth. It’s gorgeous, and it seems to muffle the sounds from the surrounding houses, leaving only the occasional cracking and creaking tree branches to be heard.

It smells wonderful—fresh and wild—and it occurs to me that this is close to Rai’s natural scent. That cold smell, the fresh rain or more specifically snow scent—mixed in with a little evergreen—is how I’ve come to recognize this silver cat over the past two years. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply—shocked at how cold the air is and how it makes my lungs ache.

Perhaps I won’t be staying out here as long as I originally planned.

I turn around and to my utter shock, Rai is crouching in the snow and touching it. It looks like he is rolling a ball of snow in his gloves and of all things, it looks like he is _playing_. I've never seen him do such a thing.

“What are you doing?”

Rai looks up and beckons me with his finger.

“Building a snowcat,” he says, as though this explains anything.

I can see it looks like he is building and shaping something from the snow—packing it down firmly and then adding more to what he’s already built. He even gives the cat oversized ears and to my dismay, a hooked tail.

“Hmph.” I crouch down beside him to help. “We should have made one with an eyepatch.”

Rai chuckles softly and as I watch his face, I can’t help thinking about the nostalgia he must be feeling. Did he ever play in the snow as a child? I remember hearing his parents were strict and thought he should put all his efforts into training. So, was he punished for playing in the snow? Or even simply for being a child?

I’m crouched down close to him and he leans down to kiss me. Even when I pull away, he leans in closer to capture my lips. _Definitely_ a public display of affection. I flatten my ears and protest softly—but I kind of like it. In the back of my mind, I remember he mentioned doing it outside and I blush, trying not to get too into it and failing. Until—

“Rai-chan?” A deep but definitely female voice interrupts our makeout session and snowcat building. Rai looks up and I follow his gaze. Standing before us is an older female cat. She’s large even for a Setsuran—and while females are still not common, though I have seen others since we defeated Leaks, it’s still slightly unusual. She is definitely bigger than any I have ever come across. Her long lush dark hair is streaked with silver, and her rounded tiger-striped ears and a long plush tail look very familiar to me—and then it hits me: this must be Bardo’s mom.

“Sherli-san?” Rai asks as he stands up, and his face melts into a reserved smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Rai-chan!” The large female folds my stiff silver cat into her arms and to my shock, she kisses his cheek. Rai actually _lets_ her kiss him! “You’ve grown so tall and strong—but you are just as gorgeous as you were as a child. So nice to see you! And who’s this cutie you’ve been attacking out in your front yard?” She smiles at me and I stand up.

“I’m Konoe,” I say shyly, lowering my face in a small bow. But the female cat bundles me up in a bear hug next to Rai.

“Ah, I see how it is. You are his?” She pushes me away from her body for just a moment, as though appraising me. I’m embarrassed, but she’s older and I have to respect her, so I don’t resist. “Rai-chan, you have done very well for yourself! He’s _adorable_.”

I think I see a hint of a proud pink flush dusting Rai’s cheeks.

“He is.”

“Oh, Rai-chan, I’m just so pleased to see you! I’d heard from my negligent son that he’d run into you again recently. I’m glad to see you’ve done so well for yourself. I’ve always considered you part of the family, kitten.”

I smile when she calls Rai a kitten. It’s one of his nicknames for me—but he is much too large to be considered a kitten. I like the idea of someone calling him that.

“Konoe-kun, I assume you’ve met my son?”

“Yes, ma'am,” I say. “Bardo has done quite well for himself in Ransen.”

“Is that idiot still going by that ridiculous name?”

My ears perk up in question and Rai smiles.

“His name isn’t Bardo?” I ask. I'm a little dumbfounded.

“Of course not. He was such a beautiful little kitten when he was born—though I’m sure he didn’t compare to Rai-chan. I was smitten. Cheryl is his rightful name. He’s named after me, I suppose since he inherited my looks.”

 _Cheryl_?! I’m shocked.

“How long will you be staying?” She asks Rai.

“We’ve just taken a few weeks off for the season, and Konoe wanted to see where I grew up. Thank you so much for taking such good care of the place in my absence.”

“It’s my pleasure. And you have always done so well looking after me and sending me letters. While you’re here, I’d love to cook dinner for you both. Come to my house tomorrow night, all right?”

“Of course,” Rai answers. “We’d be delighted. Can I bring anything?”

“Just this delicious little cutie and perhaps a bottle of sake. You know it’s my favorite, my dear.”

Rai nods.

“Until tomorrow.”

“You two enjoy yourselves here. And let me know if you need anything at all.”

She turns and carries her empty shopping basket toward town.

“Cheryl?” I whisper. I’m still in a state of shock.

“She never would agree to call Bardo by his preferred name,” Rai says, and to my surprise, he laughs.

“She seems nice.”

“She was always kind to me. She helped out when Bardo took me in, though she fell ill for some time.” Rai isn’t very interested in finishing the snowcat, it seems, since he is trying to kiss me again.

Meanwhile, I am still working (or _trying_ to work) on the snowcat—which Rai has now decided is a snow kitten. He is packing up another pile of snow and gives me a strange look.

“What?”

“Oh, just wondering if you’d had the pleasure to play in the snow like this before.”

“I haven’t—”

“Well, there’s another game we can play if you like.” With that, he grabs me by the collar of the coat, and I don’t resist, thinking he is going to kiss me again. Instead, he shoves that huge snowball down the back of my shirt.

“Oy!” I yell in irritation, but it is awfully surprising because it's so out of character for him. I pick up a pile of snow and throw it at Rai—not nearly as effective since he’s got such long hair that covers his neck, and our snow battle quickly turns to all-out war, our snow work-of-art staying a work-in-progress.

Before I know it, I’m flat on my back, snow melting slowly down the front and back of my shirt, my teeth chattering, and Rai sitting on top of my stomach. He leans in to kiss me again—and he feels so warm and perfect it melts that snow.

In fact, it’s melted it enough to soak through my underwear. I can feel it dripping down my backside and even between my cheeks. It’s freezing!

“You know, you can make a snow angel like this. Stretch out your arms and legs for a minute.” Rai lifts up off me enough so I can do what he suggests. “Now, drag your arms up and down through the snow and your legs, too.”

I get very wet—my skin is damp and freezing—and then Rai helps me up. He turns me around and sure enough, there in the snow is a print that looks like an angel. It’s pretty.

“Let’s take you inside and warm you up. Your lips are blue and your teeth are chattering.”

“Whose fault do you think that is?” I complain, and Rai turns to look at me again.

“We don’t _have_ to go inside. I could warm you up right _here_ if you’d prefer.”

My ears flatten at his tone, and his hands go to the top button of my coat. _Hell_ no! _Not_ out here!

“All right, all right!” I protest, my fur bristles and I grab his hands. “You win. Let’s go inside.”

Shaking off the snow in the entryway, Rai helps me out of my boots and coat. He’s already removed his gear and it is hanging up—and I notice Rai doesn’t stop with my coat.

“What are you doing?” I whisper when my shirt is yanked off overhead.

“You’ll never get warm in these damp clothes. They are _all_ coming off. How did you manage to get snow in your underwear? You are soaked!”

I growl and Rai just chuckles.

I’m soon standing naked and shivering in the entry, and Rai scoops me up in his arms. He’s still wearing his underclothes, and he is temptingly warm. He carries me into the bedroom to the bed and gets up for a moment to stoke the fire in the hearth. I still dislike fire, but I’m cold and my teeth are chattering, so I don’t complain. I just turn away so I’m facing away from it.

“Poor kitten,” Rai whispers in my ear when he gets back to the bed. “Are you afraid of the fire?”

I growl again—he teases me about my fear from time to time, as well as my lack of sense of direction.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” he murmurs softly. “I’ll soothe you and make you forget it’s even here. I can warm you up in the process, too. You were so tired yesterday. You fell asleep before we could do anything.”

That sounds good to me so I start to relax. He is grooming my ears and then continues down my nape. It hardly feels like grooming, though—it’s much too wet and loud—he is deliberately squishing his tongue around deep in the downy fur inside my ear, and it makes little shivers travel up and down my spine and into my tail.

“You’re not actually helping me dry off,” I point out.

“You _love_ it.”

I do, actually, and I don’t deny it. I’m pushed onto my back and then Rai straddles me briefly, sending a little chill down my spine. He just did this outside in the snow, and it’s as if my body remembers exactly what he was doing. He smirks down at me—as though he knows what I’m thinking—and he strips off his shirt overhead.

He reminds me of winter—seeing him with the window covered in frost and the snow outside—his scent is pleasant and cool. His pale blue eye sparkles gorgeously. I think he looks perfect.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just admiring what is mine,” I purr softly.

“I see.”

He leans in to kiss me again and I slip my fingers around the waistband of his underwear but don’t take them off. I can feel his erection through the fabric, and he is eager. Drawing my claws, I gently trace the outline outside of the fabric, and he purrs softly.

“A little slow getting started?”

“Oh, um. I’m just enjoying taking my time. You’re not in a hurry, are you?”

“Actually, I am. Just a little.”

“Do you have plans?”

“No. But you need to get to work on making me dinner. I’m thinking something warm—maybe rabbit stew…”

“Fuck you,” I reply softly, trying not to smile. “This is _your_ house. _You_ know where everything is, don’t you? I think _you’re_ on kitchen duty tonight.”

“I’ll cook,” Rai replies. “As long as you stay naked.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“Oh, it will be _very_ dangerous. For you, I mean.”

“I gathered that’s what you meant,” I keep my voice soft. “Perhaps if I take the time to satisfy you first, I might save myself from trouble later.”

Rai pulls back from me for a moment to meet my gaze, waiting till I meet his eye.

“Saving yourself from trouble? That’s never going to happen.”

“Well, whose fault is that?”

“Don’t know.”

“Isn’t it partly your fault?”

“I doubt it. I think this is _all_ you. Brash cats… as they say.”

I purr softly and smile, relaxing against his chest. Honestly, I’ve missed spending time with him in a bed. It isn’t as though we never touch when we’re on a hunt. We do. In fact, we usually sleep next to each other or at least wake up next to each other. And we connect out under the stars, too—it’s just… I don’t know. There’s something warm and safe and nostalgic about having sex indoors, too. Or even spending time with him like this.

As I’m pondering such things, he speaks up again softly, almost echoing my thoughts.

“You know, it’s nice being next to you on a bed, too.”

“Mmm.”

“Though I’m not sure you remember, that time at Bardo’s… it was on the floor, even though a bed was right there.”

I bristle up my fur and look up at him, cheeks flushed.

“What?” I ask.

“You know—we started on the bed… and then somehow ended up on the floor.”

“Um, I remember that. As I recall, that was _all_ you.”

“I had to do _something_ about your biting.”

“Gods!” I blush even harder and can’t meet his gaze. “Will you never let me live that down?”

“Oh, I don’t mind it so much. It’s just I’d rather you bit me somewhere other than my—”

“Okay, okay. You’ve made your point.”

“I wasn’t finished talking yet.”

“Oh, yes, you are,” I say. I know he’s trying to embarrass me, and I sit up suddenly and yank down the front of his underwear, letting his cock spring free. I don’t bother retracting my claws. I hear a soft gasp escape his mouth—and that’s rewarding in itself. I can be full of surprises and just as over-eager as I was that day he’s talking about.

Switching our positions, I press my nose into the smooth, silky fur just beneath his navel, and I groom him gently—slowly—torturously—and I feel him trying to relax underneath me. But he’s not really very relaxed. He’s much too excited.

“You know, I bring up the biting incident and you respond like this. I can’t help being a little nervous," Rai says.

I glance up at him.

“Oh. You really want to get into this with me _now_?” I lift my eyebrows.

“Um, go ahead.” He smiles at me and leans back against the pillow, folding his arms behind his head, acting as though he’s in charge of everything—including me.

“I will. Thank you very much.”

“You know, it’s much more common to thank me _afterward_.”

I glare up at him again, watching his smug smirk, and so I lower my mouth onto his dick in an instant. I keep my eyes on my face, daring him to keep teasing me. I even lift up my eyebrows again to egg him on, and I watch with some measure of satisfaction when his eyelid drifts closed.

I lick him for a while and push my tongue into the slit, just enjoying him and myself—letting myself purr and make noise—I have gotten much less self-conscious about letting out my voice when we connect physically. I know he likes to hear it—it turns him on and I can watch his ears flick toward me whenever I even sigh softly.

However, I don’t let him get too comfortable. Taking over stroking his cock with my hand, I lean down and nip the inside of his thigh suddenly, and he jumps, his eye opened and narrowed.

“Oy.”

“Hmm.” I just hum softly, licking over the spot on his thigh I just nipped. And then I meet his gaze again and bite him a little harder.

“Oy!” He is trying to sound mad, but I know he isn’t angry. In fact, since I’m still stroking his cock with my hand, I felt him stiffen even more when I bit him.

“You _like_ it,” I comment softly. I know he doesn’t mind when my claws come out or when I pull his hair… but I didn’t realize he actually _likes_ being bitten. I mean, sometimes he tries to get me to bite him by nipping my lip—of course, I have to bite back. But I never noticed that he _liked_ it, liked it.

I bite again—a little harder this time—and before I can figure out what is happening, I find myself face down on the bed with him hovering over my back.

“And we were having such a good time on the bed. Are you just not used to doing it on a soft surface? I am feeling like I will have to push you down to the floor again.”

I chuckle softly. I really am amused. Because while that first time I did accidentally nip him with my fang, it was _his_ enthusiasm that got us on the floor in the first place.

“You think this is funny? You are in a precarious position, kitten.”

I turn my head a little when I feel him stroking my tail with his fingers. I feel the warmth from his body coming closer to me—radiating from my nape to my hips.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He whispers into my ear. “I’ve missed this—being able to tease you and take time to just enjoy you.”

He’s moved his other hand to stroke just below my tail. While it is still slightly painful when we first start having sex, especially if it’s been some time, my body knows to anticipate his touch and my cock goes completely hard when he ghosts his fingers over my entrance. I purr loudly and gasp.

“Mmm,” he hums into my ear. “Will you sing for me today?”

“Would you like me to?”

“I always love to hear your voice.”

I relax as much as I can, feeling his fingers caressing beneath my tail and my outside rim before I notice he’s leaned over to the side table and grabbed some lube. It’s so cold compared to the warm of his fingers, I shiver.

For the next few minutes, he carefully prepares me—first exploring my insides with one finger and then two, spreading them apart inside me and deliberately stroking my prostate. It sends a crazy amount of pleasure through my body and makes my heart feel warm.

It isn’t long before the tips of my ears and tail and nose have all gone numb and tingling. I love how he feels—and I feel cared for and tended to. I am completely relaxed, and I’m only a little nervous about him entering me.

I used to get so anxious about sex—though he hasn’t hurt me on purpose, I know. He takes care to make sure I’m as prepared as possible—but his cock doesn’t compare to his fingers. And now, I know to expect a little bit of pain, which I accept gladly in exchange for connecting with him and the pleasure that comes afterward.

My body is roughly flipped over and then pulled toward the edge of the bed. He is standing there, and I wrap my legs around his waist, trying to keep myself relaxed. His face is soft and that smirk from this morning is long gone—replaced with passion and desire. It always stuns me that I might affect a cat like him this way. He’s so gorgeous—it’s like he becomes a different cat in the bedroom—someone only I have ever seen, and my eyes burn with tears when I think of this.

“Are you all right?” He asks, and I feel him entering me—slowly and carefully—probably slower than he needs to.

“Oh—um, yeah,” I breathe softly.

“You look like you’re about to cry.” He brushes my cheek gently and strokes my ear, pushing even further inside me.

I moan softly, trying my best to relax around him—but it still is slightly painful.

“I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“You can move a little faster, if you like,” I say. I want nothing more than to be close to him. He strokes my cock, paying attention to the head and rim, and then uses his other hand to run his claws through the fur on my tail.

“Your fur is still wet,” he says softly. “Are you still cold? Do I need to make you work a little harder?”

“Work harder?” I ask—but I needn’t have asked.

He pulls my body close to his, lifting me up off the bed so I’m impaled on his dick. It feels good to have him inside me, and my chest feels like it’s melting even as my thighs burn. He braces my back against one of the posts of the bed—and I giggle a little.

“What?”

“It’s just… we have access to a bed and we aren’t using it.”

“Oh, we’ll use it later,” he assures me.

My arms wrap around his neck and my thighs squeeze his waist. In fact, I am holding myself up on him with help from the post behind me. My cock is squeezed between our stomachs—the soft silky fur I was just grooming brushes against me, and he leans in a little.

He doesn’t need to use his hands to hold me up, between my legs and my arms. Instead, he continues stroking my tail—and he tightens his grip around it. If he weren’t fucking me, that firm of a grip would probably hurt.

My mind flashes back to that time in Ransen before we met Leaks. He had an attraction to my tail even back then. I remember he stepped on it one of the first mornings we stayed at Bardo's inn—at the time, I was extremely annoyed, but now I look at that and think he liked me even back then.

“You feel so good,” I whisper, and he thrusts up, brushing that part inside me he was stroking with his fingers—I moan out loud and let my voice go. My heart feels like mush and I feel a song humming beneath my skin.

I don’t always sing during sex, but it seems to enhance our connection. It is a way for me to share my feelings with him and gauge how he is doing. And right now—when my song spills—I feel him stiffen with lust.

Soon, our bodies are covered in sweat, which makes our skin stick together—a nice feeling against my cock. And between the hand on my tail and the hand under my ass, I am feeling pretty nice, too. I’m always surprised how quickly he can work me up into a frenzy—and I’m trying to figure out if I can go ahead and come now, or if I should wait for him.

I glance up at his eye—which to my surprise is open and watching me, his pupil dilated and dark, his lashes fluttering softly. I see the corners of his mouth curving up. Gods, he’s an attractive cat.

“It’s okay,” he whispers. “Just relax and come.”

I do come—but I’m not at all relaxed. I am moving up and down against him, rocking my hips, swaying my tail, twitching my ears—and my toes start to curl when my body comes undone. I let my eyes drift closed—though I can feel him watching me. It’s slightly unnerving to have him watch me climax, but it always seems to get him off, too. So I don’t resist, though my cheeks still flush.

When pleasure floods my lower half and spills out into the rest of my body, I cry out and feel my insides pulse around him. He gasps softly and rides out his climax with a few more thrusts, then lets me fall against the bed on my back.

“See? We used the bed,” he says, his breath still ragged.

“Mmm.” I purr with pleasure and relaxation, just basking in the afterglow. He pulls out of me and then moves me up to the bed, crawling behind me, and my song fades out gently.

“You know, what I don’t get is how you _still_ manage to flush so cutely and innocently— _every_ time.”

Even as he points it out, I feel my ears go a deeper shade of red, and I look down.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Rai whispers. “I find you utterly enticing.”

“You’re not bored of me yet?”

“Definitely not. And I suspect you will be begging me to take you outside before the next few weeks are up.”

I laugh at that. I’m not sure what his deal is, but he is somewhat reckless when it comes to sex. He enjoys public displays of affection—which, if I think about it, is nothing like the cat I thought he was when we were first getting to know each other.

The first time he touched me sexually—out in the woods by the river under the influence of catnip—he seemed slightly reluctant. But I wonder if that was for my benefit rather than for his. I still get chills down my spine when I think about that. I can’t help being reminded of the first time he licked my ears every time he grooms me. Especially when he’s a little rough about it, holding me down so he can reach every last part of my ears.

“What?”

He must have seen me shivering.

“I was just thinking about the first time you kissed me—out behind the inn by the river.”

“Ah. The catnip incident.”

“Do you think about it?”

Rai meets my gaze and lifts his eyebrows.

“Of course. Every time I groom you.”

“Oh.”

“I think at the time I was worried I was doing something you didn’t want me to do. And I couldn’t resist my impulses. Sort of the story of our sex life, isn’t it?”

I’m surprised to hear him say this.

“What do you mean?”

“You resist and I pursue.”

“That’s not how it is,” I say.

“Oh no? You seemed resistant outside just now.”

“I’m just… I’m not into public sex.”

Rai laughs.

“You aren’t? I’ll remind you next time, but your body certainly shares a different opinion.”

I growl softly and he continues.

“You know, I can smell your arousal.”

“What?!” This is also news to me.

“I can smell when you get turned on. Your scent gets even warmer. Maybe it’s your sweat, maybe it’s the blood pooling in your—”

“ _Okay_!” I interrupt. “I believe you! You have an excellent sense of smell.”

“I’m Ribika. Of course, I do. You on the other hand…”

“What?”

“Who _knows_ what kind of creature you really are. No sense of smell, no sense of direction, fear of fire, abnormally self-conscious about your adorable size and gorgeous tail…”

I blush even harder now—realizing he is probably saying all this just to make me blush.

“And you have the cutest, most enticing blush ever. And a gorgeous voice.”

To prove his point, he runs his fingers along my sides, tickling me gently—and it almost doesn’t tickle. A sexual-sounding purring sigh escapes my lips when he touches me.

“Why don’t you sleep a little? I’m sure you’ve worn yourself out now.”

“All right. When I wake up, I expect to wake to a delicious warm meal—handmade by _you_.”

“As you wish,” he purrs softly—but he doesn’t get up. Instead, he grooms my ears and my face gently, kissing me tenderly. I don’t mind at all. And soon, I drift off to sleep in the arms of the cat I love.


End file.
